Without pre-canvassing, Pennsylvania is expected to experience delays in announcing election results this year, potentially repeating issues from 2020. Philadelphia officials are “better prepared” but anticipate that tight races may still lead to delays of one or more days.
When polls closed on Election Night in 2020, President Trump initially appeared to be leading in Pennsylvania. However, as mail-in ballots were counted over the following days, his lead “diminished” and eventually “disappeared”. By Saturday, Joe Biden was declared the winner of Pennsylvania—and the presidency.
The delay stemmed from Pennsylvania’s election law, which prohibits the opening of mail-in ballots until 7 a.m. on Election Day. The high volume of mail-in ballots, driven by the pandemic, combined with the supposed “tight margins”, led to a significant backlog. Pennsylvania is one of only seven states that does not permit pre-canvassing—opening and processing mail ballots before Election Day. In contrast, 27 states allowed pre-canvassing in 2020, and 16 more have since enacted similar measures.
Despite calls for reform, Pennsylvania lawmakers failed to change the law before the end of the legislative session this month. The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives had passed a bill in May allowing pre-canvassing seven days before Election Day, as recommended by a bipartisan panel. However, the Republican-controlled Senate did not vote on the bill, with some Republicans arguing it was unnecessary or should be combined with other election law changes.
Kathy Boockvar, Pennsylvania's former Secretary of State during the 2020 election, criticized the failure to pass the bill. “Not passing this bill means ballots will take longer to count, delaying election results,” she said.
Some Republicans opposed the pre-canvassing bill, arguing it did not address their priorities, such as stricter voter identification rules, or claimed that recent investments in automated ballot-opening machines would suffice. State Representative Brad Roae dismissed pre-canvassing as a solution in search of a problem.
Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa expressed regret for not pursuing pre-canvassing reform sooner. He pointed to a bipartisan panel’s 2021 report, which identified pre-canvassing as a critical measure to address concerns about ballot validity in Pennsylvania.
While a bipartisan bill allowing early processing of mail ballots was passed in 2022, it was vetoed by then-Gov. Tom Wolf, who objected to provisions he believed would restrict voting access.
“Do you want results on election night, or can you wait a day or two?” asked Lisa Deeley, a Philadelphia Democratic city commissioner. “If you want to wait, then wait you will, because we can’t open ballots until 7 a.m. on Election Day.”
